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How to Modify the BCD Store Using Bcdedit

11/16/2011

9 minutes to read

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2

You can use the Boot Configuration Data Editor (Bcdedit.exe) to view and modify the contents of the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store. For more information, see "Boot Configuration Data Editor Frequently Asked Questions" (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=112156).

Note

Note that when you modify the BCD store, you must force it to be recreated in order for your changes to take effect. To do this, either restart the WDSServer service (run wdsutil /stop-server and then run wdsutil /start-server) or run Sc control wdsserver 129.

In This Topic

To View the Contents of the BCD Store

To Configure the Default Selection Time-out Value

To Configure a Localized Boot Manager Experience

To Configure the TFTP Block Size

To Configure the TFTP Window Size

To Configure Windows Debugger Options

To Turn On Emergency Management Services Settings

To View the Contents of the BCD Store

To view the contents of this store, run the following command at the command prompt:

To Configure the Default Selection Time-out Value

The default selection time-out value is set to 30 seconds. You can configure this value by setting the appropriate option in the Default.bcd store for your client’s architecture, using the following steps:

View the existing configuration settings in the Default.bcd store by running the following command:

To Turn On Emergency Management Services Settings

For servers equipped with the proper firmware, Emergency Management Services (EMS) provides functionality that you can use to administer a server remotely. This is useful for computers that do not support direct video output or do not have a keyboard and mouse attached. Except for hardware maintenance and replacement, all administrative functions that you can accomplish locally should be available remotely. This includes starting your computer and performing system-recovery tasks. This method is typically used for high-end servers in a data center.

There are generally two types of devices that support remote administration: those whose BIOS and Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) support UI redirection, and those whose BIOS does not support UI redirection. The first class of computers is generally EFI-based, typically Itanium-based servers. The second class of computers have had the video card removed (or the computer did not come with one), and the goal is to redirect output by using a COM port.

Support for remote administration is enabled by default for Itanium-based computers that are using configuration settings specified in the default BCD store that was created for Itanium-based clients. These EMS settings are enabled and set to use the BIOS default settings (as opposed to COM port redirection). Each per-image BCD store that is generated for Itanium-based clients is set to inherit these settings from the default BCD configuration.

Support for remote administration is not enabled by default for x86-based or x64-based computers that do not support BIOS redirection. To enable this support, you must do the following:

Adjust the default network boot program to one that supports remote administration (for example, hdlscom1.com, hdlscom1.n12, hdlscom2.com, or hdlscom2.n12). For more information about network boot programs and their use, see Managing Network Boot Programs.

Signal the loader to support remote administration. You can do this by using BCDedit.exe to set the appropriate EMS options in the default BCD store used for that architecture. You must enable EMS settings and, optionally, you can specify the default port and baud rate.

To turn on EMS settings for a particular operating system entry (for OSLoader)

Determine the GUID of the operating system entry by running the following command: